[CR] Another study shows that being fat and fit is better than being thin and unfit, at least for men

[Guest guest]

Hi All, The attached is the abstract for the paper on fitness and weight,

but I liked the neighboring abstract even better. PDFs are available.

Either way it seems, fitness and weight reduction as well as eating soy, you

stand to gain.

Cheers, Al.

Alan Pater, Ph.D.; Faculty of Medicine; Memorial University; St. 's, NL

A1B 3V6 Canada; Tel. No.: (709) 777-6488; Fax No.: (709) 777-7010; email:

apater@...

Am J Epidemiol 2002;

156:824-831.

Soy and Fish Oil Intake and Mortality in a Japanese Community

Chisato Nagata, Naoyoshi Takatsuka and Hiroyuki Shimizu

The relation between intake of fish and soy products and subsequent

all-cause and cause-specific mortality was examined in a cohort of 13,355

male and 15,724 female residents of Takayama, Gifu, Japan. A diet that

included soy and fish intake was assessed in 1992 by using a validated

semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Over 7 years of follow-up,

2,062 participants (1,163 men and 899 women) died. For men, the highest

compared with the lowest quintile of total soy product intake was

marginally significantly inversely associated with total mortality after

adjustment for total energy and nondietary covariates (hazard ratio = 0.83,

95% confidence interval: 0.69, 1.01; p for trend = 0.07). After adjustment

for nondietary covariates, a decreased hazard ratio for the highest

compared with the lowest quintile of total soy product intake was also

observed for women (hazard ratio = 0.83, 95% confidence interval: 0.68,

1.02; p for trend = 0.04). Additional adjustment for dietary factors

significantly associated with total mortality did not attenuate these

associations. For women but not for men, n-3 fatty acids from fish were

significantly inversely associated with total mortality. Results showed

that soy intake may have moderate but beneficial effects on total

mortality.

Key Words: cohort studies; diet; fishes; mortality; soybeans

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; ICD-10, International

Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision.

PMID: 12397000 [PubMed - in process]

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Am J Epidemiol 2002;

156:832-841.

Fitness and Fatness as Predictors of Mortality from All Causes and

from Cardiovascular Disease in Men and Women in the Lipid Research Clinics Study

June s1,2, Jianwen Cai3, R. Evenson2 and Ratna 3

The relative size of the effects of fitness and fatness on longevity has

been studied in only one cohort. The authors examined this issue using data

from 2,506 women and 2,860 men in the Lipid Research Clinics Study. The

mean age was 46.6 years in women and 45.1 years in men at baseline

(1972–1976). Fitness was assessed using a treadmill test, and fatness was

assessed as body mass index calculated from measured height and weight.

Participants were followed for vital status through 1998. Hazard ratios

were calculated using proportional hazard models that included covariates

for age, education, smoking, alcohol intake, and the dietary Keys score.

Fitness and fatness were both associated with mortality from all causes and

from cardiovascular disease. For mortality from all causes, the adjusted

hazard ratios were 1.32 among the fit-fat, 1.30 among the unfit-not fat,

and 1.57 among the unfit-fat women compared with fit-not fat women. Among

men the same hazard ratios were 1.44, 1.25, and 1.49. There were no

significant interactions between fitness and fatness in either men or

women. The authors conclude that both fitness and fatness are risk factors

for mortality, and that being fit does not completely reverse the increased

risk associated with excess adiposity.

Key Words: body weight; exercise test; mortality; obesity; physical

fitness; survival analysis

Abbreviation: MET, metabolic equivalent.

PMID: 12397001 [PubMed - in process]